O Captain! my Captain!
by hatters
Summary: "You and I both know that outside this job, you're nothing but a kid with a dark past and a lot of bitterness" A SHIELD trained assassin is called back to the home base after a mission turned into a disaster. As she tries to confront her past, she has to face the upcoming war. Movie-verse, Steve/OC and slightly Loki/OC. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Hey guys, so this is my first fanfiction in a very long time, and my first ever on this site. I hope you'll enjoy it! English is not my native language, therefore i might have made a few mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out._

_The story takes place during the movie, after Loki's escape and Bruce's rampage. Even though there will be some Steve/OC story at some point, the story is also focused on the team itself and all the characters. The prologue is here to introduce the OC, the next chapters might not follow her point of vue, I don't know yet. Enjoy your reading, review if you like, it's always nice (and concrit is always appreciated of course). Rated T for some violence, language and probably sexual references later._

_Title inspired by Whitman's poem. __I don't own the Avengers nor anything from Marvel._

* * *

PROLOGUE

_"Sorrow found me when I was young_  
_Sorrow waited, sorrow won"_

Vega was standing in the shadow of an old building, waiting. The sidewalk was strewn with trash and, above her, the walls were slowly crumbling to dust. The city was sleeping and the empty streets were plunged into darkness. She shivered. The night was cold and she wasn't exactly dressed for such low temperatures. She never really liked Moscow, especially at this time of year, but at least here she could try to convince herself that her shivers were due to the cold, and not to anxiety. She knew that going on a mission so soon after what had happened was a bad idea. She wasn't sure to have the strenght but she couldn't have refused the job, not if she wanted her weaknesses to remain hidden.

It's funny how mistakes have a way of coming back to haunt you, she thought. She smiled sarcastically; the word _mistakes_ was an understatement. She had been told that if you never make mistakes you're not trying hard enough. Mistakes are life lessons, they help you to move forward in life. If only she could say the same about hers.

The sound of a door opening brought her back to reality. Her target, a man in his late fifties, was leaving the building across the street, alone. Vega stood up slowly, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling in her stomach. How could she concentrate on the present if she was still living in the past, the past she was running away from? As she was heading towards the man she knew she didn't have any choice. It was not the time to give up, not when she'd come so far. It was now or never, and never was not an option. She focused on her target, pulling out her gun, aimed, fired the shot... and missed. One shot, one bullet. It was all she needed to succeed. But not tonight. Tonight it was all she needed to fail. The bullet hit a car door behind the man and shattered the window. The sound of the shot echoed in the night. Vega froze in surprise, she laid her eyes on her right hand still holding the smoking gun. Missing a target could have happened to anyone, but not to her. No, not to her. Everything seemed to be falling appart. It was only when she heard the man fire back at her that she woke up from her delusion. She threw herself onto the ground, and crawled behind a parked car, dodging the bullets. "Get yourself together, Vega", she ordered to herself. She had found shelter behind the car, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he found her. He was getting closer.

_Think fast. _But her mind was busy playing the last few minutes in her head. She could now hear his footsteps on the other side of the vehicle. She had to act fast, but she was facing a new problem: there was no bullets left in her gun. "Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me"_,_ she whispered. One bullet, she had never needed more. Never, until today. She put down the gun and laid on the ground. The man was there, she could see his black boots right in front of her, on the other side of the car. She hold her breath not to give herself away and slid under the vehicle with agility. It was a miracle he hadn't spotted her yet. Grabbing a grip above her, she threw her legs right in his direction, tripping him up. The man let out a surprised gasp before hitting the ground. As fast as she could she pulled herself out and rushed towards him. At this point she wasn't even aiming for the gun he had dropped. She crawled on top of him and started punching him repeatedly the hardest she could. She didn't stop when she felt the warm blood spilling between her fingers; and neither did she when she heard bones breaking. She only stopped when all signs of life had left him, panting and covered in blood. The man was laying on the ground, lifeless, his face unrecognizable, gone in pieces like a porcelain doll. Still shaking, Vega picked up her own gun and started running as fast as her legs could carry her, trying to ignore the tears rolling down her cheeks.

* * *

Shattered glass crunched beneath her feet as they engaged in the Helicarrier's bridge. A small aircraft had picked up Vega in Brooklyn earlier this morning, taking her to SHIELD's home base, where she had been welcomed by a troubled Nick Fury. It was such an astonishing spectacle to see the ship in pieces. The confused screams were mixing with the engines' humming noises. Somehow, the clamor left her speechless. She had always pictured the ship as indestructible, but what had happened proved her wrong. Actually, she wasn't exactly sure of what had happened but she had been told that she didn't have to worry, she was safe onboard. A long rumble coming from above her made her doubt she was. She lift up her head to take a look around. _This is war_, she thought. And it wasn't a war she was ready to fight.

"How bad is it?" She whispered, her eyes lost in the crowd of agents and technicians rushing all around them.

"Oh, it could be worse", Maria Hill, who was walking next to her, answered. "Thanks to Stark we've managed to restart the main engines. We still have to fix some of the front turbines but the ship's an old soul, we should be okay."

Something in Hill's tone didn't seem very convincing but Vega chose to ignore it. Fury was walking ahead of them, skipping through a file, mumbling indistinct words to one of his men. At one point Vega understood he was talking about her and lent an ear to what he was saying. "...It's a complete disaster", he was explaining to the agent next to him. "We have at least 4 eyewitnesses who saw, i quote, '_a lunatic woman attacking a man and tearing his face apart with her bare hands_' and the KGB won't back down until we give them explanations. It's my fault, I shouldn't have sent her after what happened in Berlin. And now _this_", he added, glancing around.

They eventually made their way to Fury's office, not far from the conference room, where Maria Hill and the male agent left on the director's orders. Vega bit her lower lips. She wasn't sure what was going to happen now but she wasn't really impatient to find out. Fury closed the door behind them and headed for his desk.

"Sit" He invited courteously, pointing out to a chair.

"Thanks, but I'll stand" She replied, looking at Fury right in the eye, hands behind her back.

Fury stared at her for a few seconds. "Fine", he finally answered. "Do you know why you're here?"

"I screwed up" She answered. Her tone was distant. It was hard to say whether she felt ashamed or proud of herself. She was hiding behind a stone mask, like she always did, emotionless. "I'm here because I screwed up. Ain't I? I guess you wanted to have the honor of firing me yourself."

Fury shook his head. "Who said anything about you being fired? I can't say it didn't cross my mind at some point but the war has begun, I can't _afford_ to fire you. I need you, I need the skilled agent you used to be. Is it too much to ask?"

Vega opened her mouth in suprise, trying to find the right words. She felt a strange feeling in her heart. She was truly surprised but not relieved, no. Or at least not like she thought she'd be. She was also starting to realize something else. From Fury's office she could still hear the screams of agony made by the damaged ship. "This... this is not an ennemy i'm trained to fight" She finally answered trying to ignore the noises. "I'm not a soldier, sir. I'm an assassin."

"Then I suggest you start practising." Fury said, his unique eye glaring at her. "Killing is all the same, whether it's a man or a demi-god, what you need is just to work out a little more. Besides, you won't be doing it alone. I've put together a special team and you'll be working with them."

That's when she understood. "Oh, so that's it, that's my punishment? She asked on a bitting tone. "You're sending me to goof around with some egocentrics in tights."

"You don't seem to understand my point, here. You don't have any choice." His severe tone cooled her down. It wasn't the kind of tone with which you could bargain. If your mess in Moscow taught me something, it's that I can't trust you to go on the field by yourself. It's either that or you're out, Vega, but you and I both know that outside this, you're nothing, you're just a kid with a dark past and a lot of bitterness. Tell me you can live with that, or take the job.

She had froze. She felt tears of anger filled her eyes. But no matter how much she hated him at this moment, she knew he was right. She didn't have any choice. It was too late for that. "When do I start?" she asked, bitter.

Fury's only eye brightened. She could swear it was in relief. "That's what I thought", he answered. He got up to his feet and headed towards her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so rough, I'm just getting my job done. Please make sure you do the same" he added, as he was escorting her to the exit door. "And don't worry, you're gonna love those guys."

_I highly doubt that_, she thought, leaving the room.


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: English is not my native language, therefore i might have made a few mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out._

_Sorry for the delay but i had exams and holidays. But don't worry, I'll try to be faster to publish the next chapters. Anyway here is the first one. It's not very long but the lenght will probably change from a chapter to another. The action might be a bit slow but I prefer to take my time rather than going too fast and left out important details. Also don't except Vega and Steve to fall madly in love with each other in the first chapters because you'd be disappointed. Everyhting in its time._

_Title inspired by Whitman's poem. __I don't own the Avengers nor anything from Marvel._

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

_"Gunfire in the street  
Where we used to meet  
Echoes out a beat and the bass goes  
Bomb right over my head  
Step over the dead__"_

"Are you with us, Cap?" asked a voice, coming out of nowhere. To Steve it seemed so distant that he wasn't even sure it was adressed to him. But it was and it's what called him back to reality. He turned his head to an inquisitive Tony. Arms crossed on his chest, the Iron Man was leaning against the wall. He seemed tired. Neither of them had much sleep last night. Steve had spend it playing the events of the day before over and over again in his head, trying to figure out what they could have done better. Probably not much would have answered the others, but Steve couldn't get this feeling of frustration out of his mind. He felt like he could have fought harder, or at least that it was what people had expected him to. In the eyes of many he was 90-something years old, but those people would always forget that waking up from a 70 years sleep only appeared to be the morning after his plane had crashed in the Arctic. Those people didn't know that for him World War II seemed to be yesterday. He didn't blame them. After all, it was to him to learn how to adapt to a century he hadn't seen began. But it wasn't easy, waking up to a brand new world. He felt like an intruder, like he didn't belong there. And he didn't. He should have grown old by now, got married and watch his children and grantchildren grow up after him. But instead it was alone he had plunged into the ice, leaving all the people he cared about behind, and it was alone he had awaken in a world he didn't recognise anymore. It was his curse and he had to carry it alone.

It was a strange and confusing feeling to be confronted to such an abrupt change. He had walked along the Brooklyn streets he used to know. But everything he had known was now gone. The small boutiques he used to shop to were now closed or had been replaced. The tall trees in the street had now been cut off and new ones had already started to grow, and of course his old neighboors were either dead or living their last days in a retirement home. But Steve knew he had no choice but to adapt to this world that was now his too. He was trapped in the wrong place and there was no way out. No way out, no escaping, only acceptance. He was here to stay and that's what he answered to Tony. "Yes, I'm here. Long night."

On their left Natasha was seated, leaning on the table. She was probably the one who had the less sleep. She had spent the night looking after an agent Steve only knew by the name 'Hawkeye'. Probably an alias, like his was Captain America. He sighed. Was it all that he was now, Captain America? There was no much left of the kid from Brooklyn he used to be. This kid was not made for the world he was living in.

"What now?" Natasha asked, more to herself than to the others. Her tone sounded quite defeatist but Steve couldn't blame her. Loki had escaped, Banner and Thor were missing and the Tesseract seemed more lost than ever. It was like they were right back to the start. SHIELD's Director, Nick Fury, had asked them to meet here by 6. Steve gave a quick glance at his watch. He was already ten minutes late.

Tony was about to say something, probably a complaint about the matter when the room's door opened. Fury entered the room, the same look of authority in his unique eye he always had. He was followed by Maria Hill and another woman whom Steve had never seen before.

"Hope you got some rest" Fury said, closing the door behind the three of them. "Because we have busy days ahead of us."

Steve, Tony and Natasha exchanged a glance. Fury didn't have to ask to figure that resting and relaxing was not really how they had spend the night. Their lack of sleep was written all over their worn-out faces. While Natasha mumbled some answer Steve laid his eyes on the other woman, between Fury and Hill. She had probably arrived recently, she was the kind of person he would have remembered if he had seen her before. She was tall, not too much, but definitely above what seemed to be this century's average. Or maybe her high heels were giving him a false impression. She looked thin and athletic, probably a SHIELD agent, by the way she was behaving and by her tight leather clothes. But it was not about her height or her clothes. No, it was something in her face. She was not the all-pretty kind of girl but there was definitevely something special about her. Maybe it was the way her cold as ice eyes were contrasting with her childlike visage. She looked rather young but it was impossible to give her a precise age, she could have been 17 just like 27. She had long, dark brown hair attached in a high ponytailand and light freckles across her nose and cheeks. She was standing, her hands joined behind her back. His eyes met hers and Steve was blown by their intensity. He suddenly felt uncomfortable and had to turn his head away.

"So what's the verdict?" Tony inquired.

Fury turned to Hill. "Eight of the supporting engines are down, two are still having troubles responding and the left wing is unoperational" She counted, eyes on the pages of a file. "We're still trying to figure what can be saved and what has to be replaced."

"What about human casualties?" Steve asked.

"We've lost a dozen agents and at least the same are injured, we had to evacuate three of them early in the morning. Included Coulson." Hill replied, but this time she didn't take a look at her papers. Steve could see in her eyes how deeply affected she seemed to be by the incident. Weren't they all? Steve didn't have the occasion to meet any of the other agents working on the Helicarrier but they were dead all the same. They were not prepared for such a fight and they had now paid the price for it.

"How's he holding up?" Natasha inquired. She seemed genuinely worried, they all were. Coulson was the last person Steve wanted to see dead because of them. Because they hadn't been able to fulfill the only mission they had been given, to arrest and contain Loki. But they had failed and he knew this failure was going to cost them a lot more.

"For all I know he's not dead yet" Fury replied. "And neither are we so unless you want all our men to have died for nothing, i suggest we start thinking of a new plan. We lost the first battle, not the war" He didn't look as pessimistic as the rest of them. Maybe he was right after all, what was the point in giving up hope? if they truly were the only ones capable of stoping Loki and saving the Earth, they couldn't allow themselves to abdicate after the first faux pas. But Natasha didn't seem to share this opinion.

"Loki is gone, the Tasseract is nowhere to be found and with Banner and Thor on the loose we lost our most preciable team members." She said in a sigh. "No offense." She added for Steve and Tony.

"I know things could have gone better but we can't afford to desperate. We got Barton back and i've brought fresh blood to your group." Fury said, indicating the unknown woman on his left with a jerk of his head. For a second she seemed rather uncomfortable, as if she didn't like to become the center of attention. But she didn't cringed nor blinked and her face remained blank.

"So what, Lara Croft here is supposed to be the runner-up for both the demi-god and the Hulk? Sorry but I don't really see that happening" Tony said with a sarcastic laugh. "_No offense_" he added for her, mimicking Natasha. But the woman didn't seem offended at all. Actually it was almost hard to tell how she was feeling. Her face was as cold and emotionless as a rock. For a second Steve even wondered if she was ever going to move. But she did move. Her red lips stretched into a cynical smile. "Thanks for the input but the name's Vega" She replied drily. Her cold eyes held Tony's gaze for a few seconds.

"So what's your thing, Vega?" Tony asked on his usual nonchalant tone.

The woman was still smiling. Her high heels clicked against the cold floor as she took a few steps towards him. "I shoot."

"That's original" He teased, not even bothering to hide the irony in his voice. "You any good?"

"_Very_" She retorted in a whisper, now standing a few centimeters from him.

"Cut the crap guys" Fury interrupted, separating the both of them with a movement of hand. "Let's try to take things seriously for once, alright?" the Director mumbled.

"Whatever you say, boss" the Iron Man replied, recovering somekind of seriousness. "I don't trust her, though."

"Good, the feeling's mutual then" said Vega on a biting tone.

Fury was about to answer but he refrained himself. Instead he turned to Vega. "Thanks for gracing us with your presence, Agent, you may leave now. Hill will escort you outside" he said with authority. "And make sure she get one of these" He added to Maria, pointing the file she was holding.

Vega seemed to hesitate but she knew she had to obey to such a direct order. After a few seconds, she finally turned around, following Maria outside. Fury waited for the two agents to leave to room before facing Steve, Tony and Natasha. "I'm gonna need you folks to cooperate. And that means not to discuss every orders I give."

"Well here's our problem, I don't really take orders" the Iron Man replied. He was about to add something when Natasha cut him off. "We won't discuss your orders. Neither will Stark, I'll make sure of that. What's our next move?"

"That's what we have to work on. We need to find Banner, he'll know how to locate either Loki or the Tesseract, and hopefully one will lead us to the other."

"Can't we get something out of Barton?" Tony asked.

Natasha didn't let the time for Fury to answer. "He said he doesn't remember a thing."

"Really? I thought we had better interrogation technics than a head-to-head." Tony replied on a sardonic tone.

"Nobody will touch a single hair of Barton's head until I said so. Besides, my head-to-heads can be _very_ persuasive."

"Barton is a dead end" Fury cut off, ordering Natasha to calm herself. "We need Banner and Thor."

"So what, until then our hands are tied?" Steve asked. He felt anger arises. He couldn't bare to stand there, doing nothing. It would make him feel so powerless, especially after what had happened the day before. It almost became personal when he had learned that Coulson had been seriously injured. He had never felt so concerned about a mission since his first search of the Tesseract. Loki had to be stopped, and right now they were the only ones able to do such a thing. "There must be something we can do?" he asked Fury.

"Something like what?" Fury replied. "Really, I'm open to suggestions, but only Banner can work on something to find the Tesseract and if someone knows Loki enough to track him down it's Thor. As long as they're still missing I don't see what we can do but hope we find them in time. I suggest you get some more rest while you still can. But don't lower your guard, I need you out on the field as soon as we bring back your missing teammates."

He took a few steps towards the door and was about to open it when Tony interrupted him. "I still don't see how your precious 'fresh blood' is gonna be any help."

"Don't worry, you'll find out her value sooner or later, I can assure you."

"Make it sooner then" Tony muttered to himself while Fury was leaving the room. He then turned to Steve and Natasha. "Fury's word is not enough for me. What do you know about her?" He asked the Black Widow.

She stared at him for a second, like if she was wondering wether or not she was supposed to answer this question, but she finally replied. "I know her by name and reputation but I've never been out on a job with her if that's what you want to know." Tony's look encouraged her to keep going. "She's a German naturalized American field agent, her real name is Valeska Strauss but she simply goes by Vega. She was approached four years ago by a different division than mine but Fury had her transfered under his direct command because of her set of skills. That's one thing she sure didn't lie about. I've seen her in training, she knows how to handle a gun."

Tony nodded, dubious, but didn't seem convinced. "And?" he asked.

"And what? I'm sorry but my knowledge is limited, like I said, I've never worked with her." Natasha replied, on the defensive.

"I thought I heard something about a reputation?"

Natasha seemed to hesitate, or maybe she was just looking for the right words. "Well... I've never met someone who really likes her. Don't get me wrong, they will all in compliment her about her capacities, but they will also advice you one thing..."

"Which is?" Tony inquired.

"Don't trust her."

Tony let out a smile, like if Natasha's answer rejoiced him in some way. He seemed jubilant. But Steve didn't pay much attention to his reaction, the woman had piqued his curiosity. "Why not?" He asked Natasha.

"I'm not sure" She answered. "I know one thing though, she was part of a mission send to Berlin, four months ago, with a couple other agents. She was the only one to returne and SHIELD has deleted every piece of informations about the case."

* * *

Vega felt appeased when Fury finally dismissed her. She was one of those person who liked to be left alone. No close friends, just aquaintances. No long relationships, just one-night stands. It was a part of why she had taken the job. Or was it? She hadn't hesitated a second when asked to join SHIELD. It made her feel so special, so exceptional. And there she was, four years later. She didn't feel quite special after all, just another agent. Would she had done things differently if she had known what she was going to experience? She tried not to ask herself the question. But what if she had? Maybe she would have settled up by now. Have kids in a few years, a white fence and the american dream. But she had crossed this out by now and maybe it was for the best. She could have never handled kids anyway, she thought with a smile, while engaging in one of the ship's many passageways. She put her left hands on the wall to feel the cold metal on her palm. There was a time when she knew the ship like the back of her hand, but this time was long behind her now. It had been so long since she had last been in SHIELD's Helicarrier. It was just as she remembered it, except for the wrecking mess and the steaming broken engines of course.

As she was walking she took out the file Maria Hill had given to her. It contained all the informations she needed to acknowledge about what they were working on, although Vega had no doubt Fury knew more about the whole thing than what was in this file. She opened it on the picture of a man with long black hair. She let out a bitter chuckle, having to fight demi-gods was one of those things they had forgotten to tell her when they had first approached her. Or maybe it had been her mistake not to ask. She flipped through the pages, vaguely interested. She would probably have the time to give it a more curious look later, or she could just ask one of the jocks in tights Fury had paired her with to fill her up on the matter. She didn't have to read the pages to know one thing, in a confrontation with this Loki, she didn't stand a chance. And so did Fury. But maybe she was better to them dead. It wouldn't have been the first time, she thought, remembering Berlin. She cringed, feeling this pain in her stomach. No matter where her thoughts wandered they always had to bring her back to Berlin. She waved them away in a movement of hand. She had bigger things to worry about now. She arrived at an intersection and was about to turn left when something at her right caught her attention. There was someone standing still in the middle of the passageway. A man, probably a recently hired agent who had lost his way to the main deck. The Helicarrier was so large that it was impossible not to get lost for a freshman.

"Can I help you?" She asked, annoyed. She was not in the mood for tutoring. But the man didn't move or bother to answer. Vega risked a few steps ahead, uncertain. "I said, can I help you?" She repeated, but this time, her voice had lost its confidence. She knew that something wasn't normal. She could feel it. She just had no idea what it could be. As she was approaching him she finally saw him move. He slowly turned so that she could have a glimpse of his face. She sighed, reassured. It was just Clint Barton. She didn't know him personnally, but she had heard of him for his skills as a master archer. "Hawkeye, right? Fury said you were resting in your appartments. Apparently not." As he still wasn't answering she took a closer look at his face. He seemed really tired, like he hadn't slept in days. His forehead was shining with small pearls of sweat. "You okay man? You look wrecked, what d-" She interrupted herself when something caught her attention. He was holding something in his right hand. She watched him, powerless, as he pulled out his gun and aimed at her. There was something in his eyes, something behind the strange white veil that had recovered them. His right hand, strongly holding the gun, was shaking in nervosity. But what was in his eyes was not nervosity. It was something else, something evil. He made a step forward, forcing her to step back and set his finger on the trigger. Then, the only thing she heard was the shot, breaking the deep silence surrounding them, and everything around her faded.


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: English is not my native language, therefore i might have made a few mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out._

_First I want to thank everyone who reviewed, subscribed to the story or addednit to their favorite, it means a lot, I really appreciate it guys. Then, here is the second chapter. I know I'm not very fast at uploading and I hope you don't mind, but it always takes me time to write in english and I'm a little busy these days, but you don't have to worry about me abandoning the story, that's for sure. And please, keep reviewing, it can be helpful and it's always appreciated!_

_Title inspired by Whitman's poem. __I don't own the Avengers nor anything from Marvel._

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

_"What if this storm ends? And I don't see you as you are now, ever again.  
__ What if this storm ends? __And leaves us nothing, except a memory, a distant echo.__"_

Many people fear death more than they fear pain. They shouldn't. Death is quick, death is easy, death ends suffering. Pain, on the other hand, is all the opposite. Everyone should fear pain. But Vega didn't, or at least she thought she didn't. Pain is a weakness, just like love and self-interest are. Weaknesses that agents are trained to outplay. Nothing must distract an agent from his mission, nothing should corrupt him, no threats, no money, no torture. That's what Vega had retained from her training, but she wasn't made of steele and no matter how strong she pretented to be, she didn't know pain as much as she would have hoped. Pain makes you feel human, used to say her mother when Vega felt like things couldn't get worse. _Pain just makes you feel like shit, no more, no_ _less_, she used to answer, bitter_. _And it certainly was how she felt when she woke up this morning, like shit. No more, no less. It felt like her skin, her muscles, every single inch of her body was burning. She cringed in pain. The bright light was blinding her and she had to close back her eyes to protect herself from the radiant glow. She was breathing loudly, trying to figure out where she was and how she had landed here. Her every senses were confused and it was impossible for her to smell or hear anything, except her racing heartbeat. She tried to concentrate. The last thing she remembered was walking down one of the ship's passageways, until she eventually ran into someone. She furrowed her brows. Memories came rushing into her brains, although it was hard to tell dreams from reality. She could vaguely remember the shadow of a man. He was aiming something at her. What was it? Was it a... gun? The shot echoed inside her mind as she opened her eyes, frightened. She remembered. Still disoriented and dripping with sweat, she turned her head to her right... only to stumble on the face of a man, nervously glancing at her. She jumped with surprise. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out in pain. It felt like someone was trying to wring her right arm off.

"Sorry, m'am, I didn't mean to scare you"

Vega looked up at him, ouf of breath. The man was sitting on a chair next to her bed, hands joined on his lap. His face was a familiar one, she knew him from SHIELD's database. He was in the room when Fury had introduced her to the team. She sighed in silence. Captain America was glaring at her, looking rather preocupied. "You didn't" she lied, turning her head away. She was mad at herself for getting caught off guard. She glanced around her, still a bit confused. They were in what appeared to be an hospital room, even though Vega knew that what was behind the white walls had nothing to do with a hospital. She felt relieved to know that she was still aboard the Helicarrier. It meant that her wound couldn't be that bad, and that they hadn't crossed her out yet. She looked down on her right arm. Her shoulder was carefully wrapped in a gauze bandage stained with blood. She turned to her visitor, irritated. "What do you want, Sleeping Beauty?"

He glanced at her for a second, probably a little surprised to be asked the question. "They needed someone to watch over you until you woke up" he finally answered.

Vega raised an eyebrow. "If they sent their Super Soldier I take it that the situation hasn't really changed" she said after thinking it over briefly.

He shook his head, dubitative, but Vega could see how sick it made him. The impatience of not being able to do anything. The restless feeling of being powerless. As a field agent, it was something she could understand. She looked up to him and scrutinized his face, his blond hair perfectly fixed, his pale skin... Vega had read the note, like everyone else at SHIELD, when they had found him buried in the ice, but it was still impressive to see it with her own eyes. Apparently there were still things that could surprise her in this world.

The soldier moved his arms, uncomfortable, probably because of her intrusive look. "I'm Steve" he finally introduced himself, offering his right hand to shake.

"I know" she answered but left him waiting. "Nice to offer but as you can see I'm a bit disabled" she added, showing her wounded arm with a jerk of her head. He retracted his hand when he realized, looking rather embarrassed. His awkward face made her smile. "Don't worry, I wasn't gonna shake that anyway" she said, mischievously. As he wasn't answering, still looking ill at ease, she decided to break the silence.

"Look, Rogers_" _she started, "it's really nice of you to be here, but I don't need anyone to babysit me"

"But Fury said..."

Vega rolled her eyes. Damn Fury. Was he so afraid she would take off behind his back? "Fury talks a lot of shit, it's not a reason why you should take word for it" she mumbled. "I'm fine"

"You've been _shot_" Steve corrected, pointing to her bandaged shoulder.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious" Vega replied, annoyed.

Pushing back the blankets, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. The effort made her cringed but she clenched her teeth and tried to ignore the pain. She felt the cold floor under her bare feet and shivered. It was pleasant to feel the coolness run through her burning body. She took a few seconds to close her eyes and let out a long sigh. She was about to stand up when a nurse entered the room. "Where do you thing you're going?" she asked with authority.

"I'm fine, I swear," she replied, while trying to get up on her feet "I've been shot and worse before, I..." She suddenly interrupted herself, realizing too late that her legs were too weak to cary her weight. She grabbed the bed's footboard to keep herself from falling.

"You're under a rather powerful sedative so trust me, it will be long before you can even make it to the door" explained the nurse, with one of those condescending smiles Vega hated so much.

She looked daggers at the nurse. "You didn't have to drug me" she mumbled, pushing her away as she was trying to help her get back on the bed. "I could have done that by myself" she protested, "And can you tell your lost puppy to back the fuck down?" she added, when Steve rose up from his chair to give the nurse a hand.

"Don't mind her" the nurse advised Steve "I wish I could tell you it's the drug talking but really, that's just how she is", to which Vega responded by an indistinct whine.

But Steve didn't answer, something happening towards the door had caught his attention. Nick Fury stepped into the room. He looked drawn, his eyebrows furrowed above his unique eye. "Thanks for paging me" he thanked the nurse, implying that her job here was done. She nodded politely and left the room. "How do you feel, agent?" he then asked Vega.

"Peachy" she answered with a cynical cackle. "But apparently nobody here seems to understand that." She was not in a good mood, not in a good mood at all, and the pain was only adding to her anger. She hated to be the center of attention, especially when they were all looking at her with condescendence. "Afraid I'd chicken out? Screw you, I'm not a coward." She muttered with an offended growl.. Fury's eye glaring at her was making her uncomfortable. He was analyzing every bit of the situation, she knew it. He was wondering if he could trust her. "Damn, you hurt my feelings, I've only arrived yesterday, cut me some slack, would you?" She was tired of people constantly judging her.

"Well, actually you've been there for two days now" Fury corrected, ignoring the rest of her remark. But Vega didn't pay attention to that, the only thing that was now stuck in her head was the _two days_. She froze. What the hell was he talking about? She turned her head to Steve with an inquisitive look on her face, before facing Fury. "Two days? What do you mean by two days? Wait... I've been out for two days?"

Fury shook his head yes. Vega took a few seconds to think it through. "And the dickhead who shot me?" she finally asked, nervously staring at her feet.

For a second Vega would have sworn he seemed embarrassed but it didn't last and his face recovered an emotionless expression. "Well, turned out he was still under Loki's spell" he replied.

"_Oh, you think?_" She was pissed. Fucking pissed. They hadn't been able to keep an eye on their Judas, now it was on her. It was only a matter of time before they found a way to put the blame on her.

"For now he's locked up. Agent Romanoff is with him right now" Fury explained, ignoring her provocative tone. He was going to add something else when a male agent rushed into the room, panting.

"Director Fury..." he had to interrupt himself, trying to catch his breath, he looked like he was about to pass out. When he realized everybody was waiting for the end of his sentence, he finally found the force to carry on. "They found Banner."

* * *

"Goddamn it" mumbled Natasha as she was stepping into a long passageway. She ran her hand behind her back, where her gun was wedged. It was enough to make her feel a little better. At least she felt _safe_, and it was not something they could take for granted nowadays. This part of the ship was empty, except for the two armed guards she had passed by a few minutes ago. Fury had suggested to send two agents to escort her, but she had insisted to go by herself. She felt as if it was her job to carry on, and she had to do it alone. Besides, there was nothing two random agents could do that she couldn't. She knew it, and Fury must knew it too, that's why he had accepted her request. "Goddamn it, Clint" she repeated in a low voice. It hadn't been very smart of him to shoot someone in one of the passageways located in the main wing. The shot had echoed in the entire ship, covering the rumble of the broken engines. It had also been a stroke of luck for Vega, lucky he shot her in the shoulder and lucky some agents were on patrol nearby. But what a surprise it was for everybody, it just came out of the blue, when they were all focused on fixing the wrecked ship and tracking down Loki. Natasha felt so cheated. And so ashamed. It was her fault, she was the one supposed to take care of Barton, the one who told them they had nothing to fear from him. Turned out she was wrong, and her mistake had almost cost the life of one of their teammates. Not this time, she thought, she won't make this mistake again.

They had moved him in a room mainly used for interrogation sessions, the only room they could use as a cell now that the glass cage had disappeared with Thor inside. She felt her heart rate increase as she arrived in front of the room's door. She took a deep breath and, on the count of three, opened the door. Clint was chained to a chair, his eyes closed. It was difficult to say if he was truly sleeping or just pretending, because he opened them as soon as Natasha entered the room, and didn't seem surprised by her presence at all.

"So, here we are again" Natasha started. She sat on the chair in front of him. She had a tremble in her voice and she had to bite her lip to calm herself down. She couldn't allow him to spot her weaknesses. It wasn't Barton in front of her, she tried to convince herself, it was at best an ersatz of him. "I gotta ask, were you just pretending your recovering earlier?" she inquired. Deep down, she wanted to know if it had all been an act. If he had fooled her, if it really was her fault.

"Whatever suits you the best" he answered, letting out a smile. "I don't want to make you feel bad about yourself". Natasha shivered. His smile seemed so... wicked? She had never seen him like this, every weaknesses he may have had were now gone. He looked so confident, as if he was sure that no matter what will happen he would find himself successful. And that implied that Natasha would fail. She stared at him for a few minutes, lost in her thoughts, unable to find a proper answer. He was going to trick her mind and she wasn't strong enough to stop him.

Finally, after a few minutes, he broke the uncomfortable silence. "You look confuse Natasha, this is quite unusual for you" his voice echoed in the room. She squinted her eyes, feeling suddenly angry, angry at him, angry at herself. There was no way she was going to let him play with her mind. "Don't act like you know me" she warned him. "You're not Barton." Her voice was trembling again, but it wasn't of nervosity, it was of rage and confidence. She _knew_ it wasn't him.

However, he didn't seem to agree on that part. "Oh but it's me, Natasha" he answered with a sugary tone.

"No, you're different" she whispered.

He shook his head. "I'm better" he corrected. "Loki showed me the truth." His eyes were glowing under the brigh light of the room, he seemed deeply convinced about what he was talking about, too convinced. His heart wasn't talking, neither was his head, it was Loki. It was Loki's voice coming out of his mouth, Loki's words anchored in his mind.

"Do you even listen to yourself?" Natasha wondered, half-outraged, half-surprised. She was about to add something but interrupted herself. It was like talking to a wall, there was no way she could bring back the real Barton, she wasn't even sure he was still somewhere, deep inside. She carefully chose to change the subject. "If you're still Barton, why'd you shoot her? I knew you as an assassin. Not as a cold-blooded one."

"No, that's you, right?" he chuckled.

Natasha clenched her fists, trying to ignore his last remark. All her interrogation skills seemed to have vanished in front of him. "Why does Loki want her dead?" she asked on a more aggressive tone.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. It was like she was wasting his time. "Why would you make this about Loki, Natasha?"

She couldn't take more of his hypocritical tone anymore, it was like he was toying with her, without having to make any effort. "Because you're his little bitch" she snapped. "There's no way you did what you did randomly."

"Well, that's an interesting theory"

She was about to reply when her intercom biped next to her ear. "_Suit up and come back to the main dock. Banner's here._" Ordered Fury's voice. She let out a relieved sigh, she needed to get out of this room. She wanted to close the door behind her, run and never come back. She nodded and, back on her feet, took a few steps toward the door, without a look back at Barton. She couldn't consider herself deceived, but he wasn't going anywhere, there will be plenty of time later. And later, she would come prepared. Never again, she thought, she would be more clever than him next time.

"Already leaving?" he asked, pretending to be disappointed. "It was just starting to get interesting." Natasha didn't answer, trying her best to ignore him, which seemed to offend him. "You shouldn't think of me as the ennemy, Natasha" he added, forced to raise his voice. "I can help you, as a sign of my goodwill" Natasha opened the door and stepped outside the room, she was about to close it behind her when Barton's voice echoed in the room. "Ask her about Berlin" he yelled. "Ask Vega about Berlin."

* * *

"Are you sure about that, Dr Banner?"

"I know what I'm doing, Cap" Bruce replied, eyes on his computer's screen. To be honest he didn't really expect him to be convinced. He _couldn't_ expect him to be convinced. How could they ever trust him after what he had done to the ship? Everything surrounding him was a reminder of his rampage. He had put everyone in danger, he could have killed them all. He was surprised they even went searching for him, wouldn't they have been better off without him? But of course they needed him to find the Tesseract. At the end of the day, no matter how much of a danger he was to everyone, he was their only hope. _How ironical? _he thought. Steve nodded, while adjusting some details of his costume. It had already been a few hours since he got back on the Helicarrier. A search party had found him near the coast, earlier this morning as he was trying to figure out the easiest way to get to the nearest city. He wasn't expecting them to go after him but after two days wandering around in some dirty clothes a man had been kind enough to give him, he had felt quite relieved to be found.

As he was checking some results on his computer, he felt Fury's only eye glaring at his back. SHIELD's director didn't seem as inclined as Steve to believe him. "I can't locate Loki himself" explained Bruce, "but the Tesseract broadcasts such a powerful energy that it's not difficult to pick it up on our radars. We're too far from the ground to identify the exact location but as we get closer the signal will become clearer and indicate the Tesseract's exact position. And hopefully lead us to Loki's secret base."

"Why the hell didn't you come up with that before?" Fury inquired, on the defensive.

"Because I hadn't studied Loki's scepter yet, I was missing pieces of the puzzle. Not anymore. There isn't enough energy broadcasting from the scepter to track it, but it works for the Tesseract." He paused for a second. "That said, if your equipment works correctly"

"Well, aren't we lucky you didn't destroy it during your rampage?" Fury replied, cynical. It was obvious that he wasn't exactly thrilled to have him back on his ship. If it wasn't for his skills he wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to get him back. Or maybe he would have prefered to lock him down somewhere, which seemed more likely to Bruce. After all it was probably what he was planning to do as soon as soon his expertise would become useless. But how could Bruce blame him when all he had to do to witness the extent of his damages was taking a look around? "Hill, find a pilot and a chopper" Fury ordered to his colleague. "I'm sending them as soon as they're ready to take off"

"Where to?" Hill asked, already at the door.

Fury turned to him and gave him an inquistive look. "Well, Doctor?"

"Long Island. The radar indicates somewhere in Long Island." Bruce answered after a quick look at the computer's screen. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Thor?" he added. According to Fury they hadn't been so lucky with the demi god. The agents sent after him had returned empty handed. Bruce could tell that SHIELD's Director wasn't feeling very delighted about it. Thor was a precious ally, his absence was a serious loss for the team.

"If Thor wanted to come back, he'll already be there. We can only deduce he decided to go after his brother by himself"

Steve chose this moment to express his impatience. "Then what are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Romanoff is still suiting up" Fury replied. "She shouldn't be very long"

"What the hell is taking her so long?" Tony, who was casually laying against the back wall, mumbled. "Not exactly the time to powder her nose."

Bruce checked his watch. Five o'clock was striking. He honestly doubted that the Tesseract's location could change in the upcoming hours, but it was already late and it would be night soon. He didn't fear darkness, or at least the other guy didn't, but it could play against them in unfamiliar territory. Tony was about to add something when the door opened. Natasha stepped inside the lab, wearing her tight black uniform.

"I'm here" she said, before turning to Bruce. "Nice to have you back on board, Doctor" she added. He blinked incredulously. He would have expected a rather less enthusiastic welcome, especially from someone he almost killed two days ago. But she didn't seem to hold a grudge against him. "I wasn't ironical" she explained quickly, probably confused by his staring. Bruce was trying to find words to thank her when Fury cleared his throat, trying to catch his team's attention, now that it was complete.

"Our goal is to secure the Tesseract and bring back Dr Selvig safe to the base. See, the plan couldn't be any simpler" he said with a smile.

"What about Loki?" Steve asked. "We can't let him get away with it."

"And we won't" Fury replied. "But he's not our primary objective right now. Without the Tesseract, he's not much of a treath. Once we've saved the planet we'll deal with him."

There was a quick silence, during which everybody was probably trying to assimilate what they had been told, but soon Tony let out a sarcastical laugh."Once we've saved the planet or once we've delivered your precious Tesseract on a silver platter?" he mocked, glaring at Fury.

SHIELD's Director sighed. "I thought we were past this".

"I'm not. Don't worry, we'll bring it back safe and sound, but then we'll have a little chat about SHIELD's weapons of mass destruction" the Iron Man replied. A brief knock on the door interrupted them. "Director, the chopper's ready" Maria Hill announced.

"Let's go" Steve pressed. But someone had appeared at the door, behind Hill.

"Don't you have the feeling you're forgetting someone?" the newcomer asked. It was a woman Bruce had never seen before. She was standing in the shadow of the door and he had to narrow his eyes to get a more accurate look at her. With chocolate brown hair and cold grey eyes, she was wearing a somewhat similar outfit as Natasha, apart from a few differences. She seemed somehow worn out, holding her righ arm with her left hand, and her legs were having a hard time bearing her weight. "Me joining this circus was your fucking stupid idea, Fury, don't you dare cutting me out of this" she warned. "I'm fine" she added before anyone had the chance to answer.

Fury shook his head. "You don't look very fine to me."

But she didn't seem ready to let it go. "I'm fine _enough_" she replied stubbornly.

"You should let the adults deal with this, sweetheart" Tony said with a laugh. "You'd only slow us down. We don't want that to happen, do we?" he asked like if he was adressing a child. "Besides, if you can't shoot, what good are you?"

"No worries, I'm left-handed" she answered, waving her left arm as if she wanted to prove her point. She then turned to Fury with an inquisitive look. "Sir?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, the girl can barely walk." He seemed to consider absurd the only thought of listening to the girl. Maybe he wasn't wrong, after all. Bruce didn't know her but nobody had to be a doctor to acknowledge that she was not in condition to be send to such an important and dangerous mission. "Who's the girl?" he finally snapped.

"We don't have time for proper presentation" Fury interrupted with impatience. "You'll have all the time to get to know each other better once aboard of the helicopter" he added, ignoring Tony who was mumbling something like '_You can't seriously consider this_'. He turned to the girl. "Vega, you're in... On one condition, you're staying inside the chopper. You'll supervise the entire operation and get back to me as soon as the Tesseract is secured. And whatever happens, _stay inside_, don't get off".


End file.
